Good Summer News

The Summer 2014 edition of Acrylic Artist features one of my paintings, Suppression of Evidence. The article is titled Behind the Canvas:  Every Picture Tells A Story  (page 120).  I think you'll find this magazine very informative, featuring many artists I truly admire.

 

 

E. O. 9066, Series 25. Naïve Newcomers shows a group of incarcerees dressed in their Sunday best as they arrive at their destination. How anguishing could it  have been to find poorly-constructed barracks, guard towers and barbed wire fences around them?    These same people were incarcerated, along with 120,000 other Nikkei (Japanese Americans), in concentration camps for the duration of World War II.

Executive Order 9066, Series 25.  Naïve Newcomers. 
Watercolor on paper,  22" x 30

Okaasan's Journey is a painting about my mother's life.  Her life of hardship, and determination to make life better for her children, will never be forgotten as this story will be passed on for generations.  Kodomo no tame ni ...for the sake of the children.

Executive Order 9066, Series 26.  Okaasan's Journey. 
Watercolor on paper,  22"x 30"

"Non-Alien" Nursery School, 1942-45

E.O. 9066,Series 24:  "Non-Alien" Nursery School Class, 1942-45.
Watercolor on paper, 22"x30"

I'm seated in the second row, at the end on the right.  Directly in front of me is my younger sister, Etsuko. We were called "non-aliens." The government employed euphemisms to mask the fact that most of the Nikkei (Japanese American) incarcerees were U.S. citizens. Thus, "non-alien" was used instead of U.S. citizen. As I painted this, I empathized with the young children, and  now have some understanding of how that period has left an indelible scar on my life and defines who I am today.

TWO MORE RECENT PAINTINGS

Last year when I went to the Henry Fukuhara Paint Out, I took a photo of Manzanar Pleasure Garden.  I didn't realize until I had the picture developed that the garden was dappled with beautiful shadows. The only recognizable shapes are the trees in the background.  Otherwise, the painting looks like an abstract of beautiful patterned shapes.

Executive Order 9066, Series 22:  Manzanar Pleasure Garden.
Watercolor on paper, 22"x30"

 

The love of my life is my 5 year old grandson.  I placed him behind barbed wire, writing in the dirt, I Pledge Allegiance.  

Executive Order 9066, Series 23: I Pledge Allegiance. 
Watercolor on paper, 22"x30"

All paintings are available in poster prints, giclee prints, and cards.  Originals are also available. maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com

NEW PAINTINGS

In January, I was able to take a 3 day workshop with Kathleen Conover from Michigan.  Kathleen is an award winning artist and I have always admired her paintings with multiple layers of color and texture. I have been intrigued with her technique, imbued with symbolism and a very personal reflection of her observations.  From our conversations, Kathleen and I found that we are alike in many ways in our interest in the art world and our pursuit of art education.

I completed two small pieces in her class.  With our textured background, we were to integrate a composition to go with it.  My finished piece, Imprisoned, came as a result of the background of tangled gauge print.  I imagined myself trapped in that tangled mess with the barracks and guard tower in the background.

Executive Order 9066, Series, 20:  Imprisoned

The second painting had textures that looked like rocks, so what came to my mind was the rock garden of Manzanar.

Executive Order 9066, Series 21: Manzanar Rock Garden

Colors of Fall Arrives in a new book...

Surviving Minidoka:  The Legacy of WWII Japanese American Incarceration edited by Russell M. Tremayne, historian at the College of Southern Idaho and Todd Shallat, director of the Center for Idaho History and Politics at Boise State has arrived.  It's a beautiful hardcover book of poetry, original art, and historical rare prints.  Included in the book are seven of my original paintings.  I am pleased with the book and feel honored to have my artwork as part of this history book.

This 200 page book can be ordered online through the Boise State University Publications or you can contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com.

INCREDIBLY BUSY SUMMER, BUT VERY PRODUCTIVE...

This summer I completed 3 paintings. Two of them were inspired by photographs I took at the 2012 Tule Lake Pilgrimage.

                                     Executive Order 9066, Series 17.  Desecrated Cemetery
                                                  Watercolor on paper.  Image 22"x30"

 

 A memorial service was held at the Tule Lake Cemetery. As the Pilgrimage participants honored the people who were incarcerated and died at Tule Lake during World War II, I felt their emotions as they viewed what is now a desecrated cemetery, bulldozed over, creating a pit at the site.

 

    Executive Order 9066, Series 18. What Lies Ahead?                  Watercolor on paper, Image 30"x22"
                    

I took a photo of an elderly man, carrying the suitcase that he had taken when forcibly removed from his home in 1942.   He brought it to the Pilgrimage and as he sat there, I envisioned a younger man, waiting to be taken to some unknown place. Many questions filled the minds of the prisoners, as they wondered nervously, "what lies ahead?"                                                    

 

Executive Order 9066. Series 19.  Manzanar Guard Tower    
Acrylic on paper, Image 22"x30
             

This painting was created for the 16th Annual Henry Fukuhara Manzanar Paintout. As I looked through the legs of the guard tower, I was intrigued by the shadow of the tall, strong, bold structure looming in front of me. Peeking through the legs, I envisioned the concentration camp-- hundreds of barracks surrounded by barbed wire, parts of it coiled and twisted.




To order paintings, posters, cards, giclees or for more information, please contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"



Executive Order 9066, Series 13.  Tule Lake

  Mixed media with collage, 20"x18" 

 

Series 13 is a painting of the notorious Tule Lake stockade.  I have participated in two of the Tule Lake Pilgrimages.  They have been one of the best organized, drawing over 400 participants, with interesting programs and breakout sessions, starting early in the morning and late into the night.  My painting captures the injustice and harshness the incarcerees suffered during their imprisonment.  The story of Tule Lake is complex.




                                             Executive Order 9055, Series 14.  Minidoka

Mixed Media with collage, 18" x 24"
 

Minidoka is a painting of how I remembered the site after my participation in the 2010 Pilgrimage.  The foreground shows railroad ties, behind that, the sentry post, then the rock garden, barracks and lastly, the canal.



                                   Executive Order 9066, Series 15.  Minidoka Rock Garden
                                                 Mixed media with collage, 18" x 24"

The rock garden at Minidoka is a stolid place with huge rocks placed strategically that poetically projects feelings of solidarity, strength, and peace.

                                                  Executive Order 9066, Series 16.  Topaz
                                                     Mixed media with collage, 14" x 18"

 

Topaz is a place of special meaning for me.  We went to visit it on our way driving home from Minidoka.  To our good fortune, when we went to the Topaz visitor center, we met Jane Beckwith, who is guiding Topaz in its struggle to become a historic site.  She took us out to the original camp ground, which we would have never found on our own.  No barracks, no guard towers, but acres and acres of desolate dry land with remnants of the past strewn all over.  My collage shows, symbolically, the nails, rock garden relics, barbed wire, appliance and furniture parts and the cracked, parched soil.  As I looked at the landscape, I felt the presence of the dark past in unbearable heat.


To order or for more information, please contact maryhiguchiarts@yahoo.com.